No title yet
by Chris Atola
Summary: Not much to do with Sonic yet, but just wait. Basically, it's a bit different from the usual 'Earthling ends up on Mobius'. DEAD FIC
1. chapter one

Disclaimer: I own Chris, her family and Jim. Sonic the hedgehog and related characters belong to their respective owners. The lullaby is a traditional one from Satakunta, Finland, so I really don't know who to give credit for it.  
  
Author's note: Yet another AU. The 'human kid finds him/herself on Mobius' has been practically done to death, but I haven't seen many of these. Let me know what you think?  
  
By the way, the interaction between Chris and her grandparents is in Finnish, but I wrote it in English for your benefit. I mean, unless you're fluent in spoken (emphasis on the spoken,) Finnish, you wouldn't understand what's going on...  
  
What I don't get, is how they know about Christmas on Mobius - I mean, they haven't heard of Christ, right? In this story, Mobius doesn't celebrate Christmas, or any other religious holiday, so Jim's going to be asking questions about _everything_.  
  
(No title yet - I can't think of one) Chris Atola  
  
The sixteen year old looked at the small form huddled in front of her, thinking, 'What have I got myself into? Mum won't be thrilled to have a foundling on the doorstep...' But, it was thirty degrees below freezing, and she knew the little one wouldn't survive out on his own. So, she picked him up and carried him in, calling to her mother. "Mum! Would you come here please?"  
  
Momentarily, a plump lady with dark hair came into the room, and gasped at the sight she saw. "Chris! Where did that child come from?"  
  
"I don't know: he just showed up on the doorstep. But he's freezing cold, and he sure wouldn't survive out there!" She pointed out the window for emphasis.  
  
"Well, you're right. Let's find some blankets, shall we?"  
  
"How about the one I did for work practice last year? That should be about the right size." Chris dashed upstairs to fetch the blanket in question. It was woven out of wool in a wide range of colours, and even if it was rather small to a human, it would be the right size for the poor kit downstairs.  
  
She returned downstairs with the blanket, while her mother brought a couple other blankets from the chest under the TV. "Where did this kid come from? Certainly not from somewhere else on Earth, he isn't exactly human. And where are his parents?" Chris wondered aloud.  
  
"I don't know. When we've got him wrapped up, why don't you go take a look outside, you might find something out."  
  
"Alright." Chris walked into the kitchen to fill some bottles with hot water to put in the same bundle as the child to increase his body temperature. When she re-entered the living room, her mother had set about lighting a fire in the heating oven in one corner.  
  
"I'll take it from here, dear. You go see if you can find his parents."  
  
Chris nodded and headed back into the hall, pulled on the headgear she's made especially for this kind of weather, then put on the pants and duck down coat she'd bought two years before. As she pulled on her boots, she noticed a bracelet on the floor. "Mum! I think this is his."  
  
She held up the bracelet for her mother to see, and tossed it to her when she noticed her mother holding out her hand. Chris then waved, opened the door and headed out, closing the door behind her and pulling on her gloves.  
  
Christina had only gone as far as the ditch separating the yard from the field when she saw exactly what she hoped not to. Two bodies, obviously non-human, lying in the snow. She ran over to try for a pulse. Nothing. The bodies were stone cold, they'd obviously been dead for at least an hour. She made the sign of the cross out of respect for the dead, then ran back to the house.  
  
"Mum, come here please." When her mother came, Chris closed the hall door and said, "His parents are dead. They're in the field, but we can't leave them there. Jussi might see them and then there'll be a regular fuss."  
  
Juhani 'Jussi' Halonen, their neighbour, cultivated the field on rent and might discover the bodies. He wasn't really that bad of a person, but like most other humans, he was slightly xenophobic. Chris and her family, on the other hand, were more accepting of the unknown, as a result of having watched various science fiction series.  
  
"Well, when Antti and Elias get home, I'll have them move them to the barn, for now. We'll have to organise some sort of funeral later."  
  
"Yeah. Hey, he's waking up!" Chris threw off her outdoor clothes, hung them up and trotted into the living room, smiling. "Hello, you're among friends. What's your name?"  
  
"Jimmy Reynard. Where's Mama and Papa?"  
  
Chris lost her smile at that and sat down. "I hate to say this, but your mum and dad are dead. I'm sorry."  
  
Little Jim burst into tears at that, and Chris found herself lending him a shoulder to cry on. After a while, she started humming a lullaby, hoping to calm Jim down.  
  
"Tuu tuu, tupakkirulla,  
mistäs tiesit tänne tulla?  
  
Tulin tänne Turuntietä,  
hämäläisten härkätietä."  
  
She kept repeating it until Jim quieted, then noticed her mother in the doorway, smiling at the scene. "Mum, would you mind making some hot cocoa? I think we all need it..."  
  
Amanda nodded and went into the kitchen, setting up a kettle on the stove. As she got the milk and cocoa powder, she though, 'Maybe it's good for Chris to have someone to look after. Maybe she won't be so close- mouthed, and speak more openly. Besides, she's the one in the family who can relate to Jim the best, with Mikko and all...'  
  
When the cocoa was ready she headed back to the living room with the mugs on a tray. She handed the tray to Chris, then sat down on the sofa. Chris thanked her and passed one of the mugs to Jim, telling him, "Careful, pikkuveli, the cocoa's hot."  
  
When Jim had finished his cocoa, both Chris and Amanda insisted her get some sleep. They set him up in a bed in the guest room, which had seldom been used, until now. After such a strange day, Jim was asleep in no time.  
  
The next morning after breakfast, (chocolate porridge,) Chris talked her dad into driving her to her grandparents' house, taking Jim with her.  
  
When she entered the house, closely tailed by Jimmy, Chris Whispered, "Jim, take off your hood," then said, "Grandma, Grandpa, I've got some important business." She gently moved Jim in front of her, and continued. "Are you xenophobic? Because this little one isn't exatly human. I found him on the doorstep yesterday evening, and his parents were frozen to death in the field. Now I need someone to arrange some sort of funeral, and, well, I was hoping you could arrange that."  
  
Chris's grandparents stood there in shock for a minute looking at Jim, then her grandmother spoke. "Well, no, we're not really xenophobic... What kind of funeral did you have in mind, dear?"  
  
"Well, we can hardly have a traditional funeral, since two unusually small coffins would raise questions, and I'd rather not bury them in a field or something... Do you suppose you could arrange for cremation?"  
  
Chris's grandfather nodded, then said, "I suppose you'd want to keep the ashes, right?"  
  
"Yeah. I mean, if Jim here ever manages to go back to whichever planet he came from, he could take the ashes with him."  
  
Chris and her grandparents reached an agreement on the cremation of Jim's parents, after which she, Jim and her dad returned home.  
  
It just so happened that it was only a couple of days before Christmas. Chris ended up having to explain the festival and the history behind it to Jim, who kept asking questions, especially after he saw the lights Amanda and Antti (Chris's younger brother) were setting up on the porch. He also started asking questions when he heard that Chris intended to go to the local cemetery on Christmas Eve. Chris had to explain the tradition of visiting the graves of the dearly departed and leaving candles. She had a hard time answering all of Jim's questions, since he was full of them. When she finished answering one question, Jim had ten more waiting.  
  
Finally Antti decided to take some of the pressure off Chris by suggesting they play a little game. The idea behind the game was to teach Jim Finnish, which he'd have to learn if he wanted to make friends with the other kids in the village, and which he'd _have_ to know well enough to attend school when he turned seven, in three years time. Jim would point to something, Chris would tell him the Finnish name or word for it, and Jim would repeat it until he had the pronunciation close to perfect. It kept Jim off Chris's back with all the questions, and also had an educational purpose.  
  
When Chris tired of telling Jim the Finnish words for things, she suggested putting up more of the decorations, for example candles and ornaments. She ended up playing the word game even then, but at least it was different from before.  
  
Finally, Amanda asked Chris to make the Christmas star tarts, which had been put off for quite some time. Chris was only too glad for the break. Not that there was anything wrong with spending time with Jim, but he was so curious, he was constantly asking about things, and Chris was starting to lose her voice from the constant explaining.  
  
When Chris's dad suggested going to one of the larger nearby towns for some last-minute shopping, she jumped at the opportunity. She had been thinking about whaat to get Jim, and finally decided on some warm clothes and an aapinen. (AN: definition below.) She spent some time deciding what kind of aapinen she wanted, since there was quite a selection, with varying quality. Some were such poor quality the words were almost all misspelled, and others were extremely expensive. Since Chris didn't have a lot of money to throw around she settled for a medium-priced, decent-quality book and moved on to the clothes. She found a set of overalls which were practically screaming Jim's name, and weren't exactly the most expensive in the shop, but not the cheapest, either.  
  
At Christmas Eve, Chris's grandparents came for dinner, as they'd done for the last three or so years. This time, they didn't seem at all bothered by Jim's presence, and Chris was extremely surprised when it was time to open the presents there was more than one present for Jim. Besides what Chris got him, Jim got a lot of clothes and that sort of thing.  
  
Jim's parents cremation happened just after Christmas, and their ashes were stored in beautiful urns with their names (which Chris asked Jim for) engraved on the lid. The urns were kept on top of the chest of drawers in the room which Jim slept in. Chris, who made sure the urns were fitted with small locks, kept a set of keys to herself and gave the other pair to Jim. Jim usually wore the keys around his neck on a shoelace.  
  
Within a week, the entire village knew that the Atola family had adopted a non-human, but most, after the initial shock, took the information well, and very few people disapproved, especially when they heard what had happened to Jim's parents. Most parents let their kids play with Jim while he was at the daycare which Chris had enrolled him in, so that he'd get the chance to make friends with kids his own age. None of the kids picked on Jim, which Chris was surprised about. He even made a best friend: a girl by the name of Annamari, who lived just down the road.  
  
There were, however, some people who didn't approve of Jim. They were mostly religious fanatics and xenophobics who believed Chris shouldn't have accepted an 'abomination' into her home. Chris ignored them, but it was hard for Jim to do so: those people encouraged their kids to torment the poor lad. Eventually, Chris had enough of those idiots tormenting her protégé, and stepped in. She marched over to the boys who were making fun of Jim and grabbed two of them up by the scruffs of their necks.  
  
"Mitäs sitä luullaan tekevänsä?! Tommoset kakarat ansaitsee ympäri korvia!" The boys looked scared when they realised who had them in that tight spot, and were relieved when Chris let them go. They ran off practically with their tails between their legs. After that scolding the troublemakers of all ages kept their opinions to themselves.  
  
Chris had to play the part of both mother and older sister for Jim, since Amanda and Antti lived in Helsinki, two hundred kilometres away. Every evening Chris sent a status report to her mother via e-mail, to let her know how they were managing. The reason the Atola family was split up, was because Chris went to the local vocational college, where she was learning to become a weaving artesan. It was a job Chris had been working toward for the last three or so years, by attending weaving courses and working on her grades.  
  
The three years Chris spent studying weaving went by quickly, and in the autumn after the third year, Jim was supposed to attend the local primary school with the other kids in the village. Annamari was also going to school that year, as well as most of the other kids at the daycare.  
  
Chris started her own small business, since she was now nineteen years old, in selling the products of her loom. She even profited from the business, since the locals valued the hand-woven goods such as tablerunners, placemats and rugs.  
  
Every day, when Jim's school was finished for the day, Chris would steal the car and go to fetch Jim and whoever else needed a lift in the same direction.  
  
Because he was accepted by most of the people in the village, Jim actually enjoyed school, unlike most kids. He even surprised Chris, who knew how much he enjoyed school, with his grades. The only poor grade he came home with at the end of his sixth and final year of primary, was French. Chris, when she saw the grade, only said, "Well, pikkuveli, I think you should drop French: it's obviously not your strong point."  
  
One afternoon during the summer, Chris found Jim staring at his parents' urns, lost in thought. She sat down on the bed and waited. Eventually Jim realised she was there, and turned around.  
  
"You alright, Jimmy?"  
  
"Yeah. I was just wondering what my parents were like. I can't even remember them anymore."  
  
Chris stood up and walked to the chest of drawers the urns were kept on. She stopped next to Jim and said, "I know how you feel. You remember I told you how I lost three relatives in only a year? Well, I never even met Aunt Dot, and only met Uncle Ken once. The only reason why I remember what Mikko looked like is because I've got photos. But maybe someday you'll meet someone who actually knew you parents. Who knows?"  
  
Those words must have triggered something, because moments later I wasn't in the guest room anymore. I was in a dense forest with ancient trees surrounding me. I looked around, and saw Jim next to me, equally bewildered. The urns were on the ground in front of us.  
  
I suppose the sudden change of scenery, or something in the air, made me feel faint. I found myself having to sit down, and in moments all was black.  
  
Finnish translations and definitions:  
  
Pikkuveli: little brother  
  
Aapinen: a book which teaches kids their letters and numbers, as well as the basics of reading, by way of games, short stories and poems.  
  
"Mitäs sitä luullaan tekevänsä?! Tommoset kakarat ansaitsee ympäri korvia!" : What do you think you're doing?! (Kids like you,) you're asking to have someone box your ears!  
  
Please review! 


	2. chapter two

Disclaimer: I own Chris, her family and Jim. Sonic the hedgehog and related characters belong to their respective owners. Slasher belongs to Netraptor.  
  
It's a short chapter, I know, but I'm having a difficult time trying to figure out what to write next...  
  
(No title yet - I can't think of one) Chris Atola  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Elisa Rivers was heading to Knothole village through the Great Forest, when she saw a flash of light in the trees off to one side, When she went to see what caused it, she discovered a twelve-year-old fox kit and a twenty-odd year old Overlander girl sprawled on the ground. She took off running to Knothole.  
  
Elisa ran, thinking the human would want to hurt the kit. She rounded up a group of people to bring the strangers back. Four people carried the girl by each limb, and two people the kit. Elisa picked up the urns on the ground, and headed to Knothole.  
  
The two were put in separate buildings, and Princess Sally was called over. She entered the building which held the girl to find the her wide awake and looking around nervously. She turned around to face Sally when she heard the door open - which was strange since the door hadn't made a sound.  
  
"Where on Earth am I? Where's Jim, is he alright?" The girl had an accent Sally couldn't quite place.  
  
"Who's Jim?"  
  
"The child I ended up here with. 'Far as I can tell, his name's James Reynard - at least that's what he called himself when I found him on my doorstep eight years ago."  
  
At that point Slasher came in.  
  
"Oh, my golly. A 'raptor? That's it, I s'pose I'm now mad as a hatter... I belong in the madhouse." She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt.  
  
"What's your name? And how'd you know when I opened the door? It didn't make any noise." Sally asked.  
  
"My name's Christina Atola - although most call me Chris. I've got hyper acusis, oversensitive hearing, so sometimes I hear things others don't. And I _felt_ you enter. It's a family trait. Now, where am I? The planet, I mean, and the location."  
  
"This is Mobius. What'd you mean by location? By the way, my name's Sally, and this is Slasher."  
  
"Well, y'see, my home planet is Earth, third planet of the Sol system. And I have the feeling I'm not in even the right _quadrant_ of space anymore."  
  
"So you weren't out to hurt the kid?" Slasher asked.  
  
"Heavens, no! I'll have you know, miss, that, for one thing, I'm hardly about to hurt a kid I've been taking care of since he showed up on my doorstep, four years old, half frozen and with his parents frozen to death in the field ten metres away. And, two, I'm a firm believer in the Golden Rule, 'Do unto others as you would have done unto you'. Want proof?" Chris pulled a green semi-precious stone cross from under her shirt. "I can even make a Christian confession of faith, provided I can remember the words..."  
  
"Alright, I believe you. What do we do with the containers we found with you?"  
  
"That's up to you. They contain the ashes of Jim's parents. I had them cremated to avoid all the difficult questions about two unusually small coffins and anthro corpses. The plates on the lids give their names - though I don't suppose you can read the script?"  
  
"Actually, we can - except for one thing. What are the numbers beside the crosses?"  
  
"The Earth date they died. I don't know what the local equivalent is. The twenty-second of December in the year 2003 AD, two days before an important religious holiday."  
  
"Christmas," Slasher spoke up. Sally looked confused.  
  
"...You've never heard of Christmas. You know about Christ, right?" Chris's voice was ever so slightly hopeful, not wanting to recite the entire megillah.  
  
"Yes, I've brought the subject up," Slasher answered.  
  
" 'Kay. Well, Christmas commemorates the birth of Christ, it's a tradition that goes back hundreds of years. I can't remember how many centuries."  
  
Finnish translations and definitions:  
  
Pikkuveli: little brother  
  
Please REVIEW! 


End file.
